US Gov’t Withdraws All Offshore Wind Energy Areas

July 31, 2025, by Adrijana Buljan

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has rescinded and de-designated all Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) on the US Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The WEAs are areas in the US federal waters that BOEM previously identified as suitable for wind energy development and, following a multi-stage process, designated Wind Energy Areas for which a lease sale may be proposed.

“By rescinding WEAs, BOEM is ending the federal practice of designating large areas of the OCS for speculative wind development, and is de-designating over 3.5 million acres of unleased federal waters previously targeted for offshore wind development across the Gulf of America, Gulf of Maine, the New York Bight, California, Oregon, and the Central Atlantic”, the US agency said on 30 July.

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The withdrawal of the designated offshore wind energy areas in the US follows the Presidential Memorandum issued on 20 January 2025 (Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the OCS from Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of the Federal Government’s Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects) and comes shortly after the Interior Secretary’s Order (SO) 3437, Ending Preferential Treatment for Unreliable, Foreign Controlled Energy Sources in Department Decision-Making, that was issued on 29 July.

The US offshore renewable energy industry organisation, Oceantic Network, has released a statement saying the latest directives from the Department of the Interior (DOI) will directly impact the US “all-of-the-above” energy strategy and, ultimately, consumer bills.

“The Department of Interior’s latest directives continue a false narrative on an established American industry that will prevent an important source of baseload power generation from reaching the grid when ratepayers are already feeling the effects of rising electricity prices”, said Stephanie Francoeur, SVP of Communications & External Affairs at Oceantic Network.

“This will result in even higher energy costs, increased blackouts, job loss, and billions of dollars in stranded investments, further delaying shovel-ready projects supported by a domestic heavy manufacturing supply chain renaissance that spans 40 states. Crippling affordable and reliable wind energy makes no economic sense and undermines the administration’s “all-of-the-above” energy strategy. We urge the Department to adopt policies which put all sources of American energy on an even playing field.”